Shamima Begum is ‘ready to face prison’, Report

SHAMIMA Begum is the British schoolgirl who travelled to Syria to fight for the Islamic State, but how old is the teenager and could she be jailed if she returns to the UK?

Shamima, now 19-years-old, travelled to Syria at the age of 15 and wants to be shown mercy to be allowed to return to east London. The teenager spoke to The Times at a refugee camp in northern Syria and said she would “do anything required to be able to come home and live quietly with my child”. Home Secretary Sajid Javid has warned he “will not hesitate” to prevent the return of Britons who travelled to join ISIS and said they were “full of hate for our country.”

Security minister Ben Wallace said: “There are a range of terrorism offences where individuals can be convicted for crimes committed overseas and we can also use temporary exclusion orders to control an individuals’s return to the UK.”

Women and girls returning from ISIS strongholds have been held in detention and questioned when they landed back on British soil.

However the chance of being convicted of terrorism is low, although a new law was recently passed by parliament made it an offence to enter or remain in overseas terror hotspots.

These are officially termed “designated areas” and those found guilty can face up to 10 years in jail.